


Blackout

by Firekitten



Series: Walk a Mile with my Aura [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: 100 Days of Taiqrow, Gen, Not Necessarily Shippy - Freeform, Unless you want it to be ;)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 02:03:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21263291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firekitten/pseuds/Firekitten
Summary: A mission gone wrong has team STRQ trapped in a cave... and Taiyang quickly succumbing to a panic attack.[A companion story to Cease the Day - reading it prior to this one is not required, but always appreciated!]





	Blackout

The loud screech of a sphinx grimm pierced the air as it flew past, a ball of fire shooting from its mouth and towards the cavern they had all taken cover in.

“Fall back!” Summer cried.

Tai twisted on his heels, sprinting further into the cave just as the fireball impacted the top of the entrance. The thundering of the collapsing rock nearly deafened him and he ducked his head as dust rained down on him from above. Over the noise, he heard a faint yelp from behind him - his only warning before Raven was colliding into him, sending them flying. His vision flashed as they went skidding across the hard earth. Eyes squeezed shut, he blindly reached out for his teammate, shielding her as the world shook around them. A few rocks impacted his body, but his aura mostly mitigated the damage.

As the echoes of the earthquake faded, Summer’s voice came through. “Is everyone okay?”

Raven shifted in his arms. “I’m fine.”

“Yeah, all good.” Qrow called.

“Still in one piece.” Tai reported as he finally dared to open his eyes.

And saw nothing but dark.

There was something wrong. He knew it immediately.

“Okay. Okay good.” Their leader sighed. “I think we might be stuck though.”

“Yeah well – Tai let go.” He was only dimly aware of the order – but he must have followed through because Raven was soon pulling away from his limp grasp. “Maybe there’s a way through the-”

The voices of his friends seemed to be fading in and out around him. His chest was tightening. What was going on? Had he gotten hurt after all? He felt along the floor, sitting up slowly as the darkness seemed to press from all around.

“H-H…” He wheezed, poking at his ribcage. Nothing broken. Why couldn’t he take a full breath then? “G-Gu-?” He tried to get out, coughing. He couldn’t- he couldn’t-!

“Tai? What-” Anything else Qrow was saying was lost to the rushing in his ears.

The rushing of the ocean. Was he in a cave anymore or locked in that crate on the boat? Was he eighteen, struggling to find air, or thirteen, slamming his fists on the top of his coffin, cries echoing back at him, “_Somebody please! Let me out!”_

Terror overwhelmed him and he doubled over and screamed, “HELP! HELP!”

He heard something – a curse? He didn’t know. There was too much noise. All around. In his head. In his ears. He was scared. He was scared!

A hand tightly grasping his shoulder grounded him and suddenly he could see Qrow. “Tai, buddy, come on you need to tell us what’s wrong. Are you hurt?”

“N-no? I-I feel like,” He swallowed hard, clawing at his throat. “I can’t breathe. I-I can’t-!”

“Yes, you can. You are breathing.” Qrow grabbed one of his hands away before laying it against his own chest. It was distending rapidly. “Feel that? You’re breathing too fast.” Next he placed his hand against his chest, rising and falling slowly. “That’s mine. Try to get your breathes to match mine.”

He nodded, feeling someone else pulling away his other hand that was leaving bruises in his neck. That knowledge was lost to the background as he focused instead on keeping time with Qrow’s breathing. It was like the exercises they taught back at Signal – how to breathe properly when sprinting, how to best catch your breath, how to meditate. He could do them all, so he knew he could do this.

For what felt like hours but was probably only minutes, that was all he was aware of. Qrow’s heartbeat under his hand and his own shaky breathes evening out little by little.

“That’s it Tai.” Summer said from his left. Oh, it was her hand holding his. He was definitely gripping hers too tightly.

There was another pair of hands on his back, applying only slight pressure as they slid down his shoulder blades. “No injuries.” Raven reported.

He swallowed, shook his head. Things were coming in more clearly. “No. It’s too dark.” It took him a moment to realize that didn’t make sense.

Qrow didn’t seem to misunderstand though. “Focus on this.” His view of him disappeared as he held out his scroll.

Hesitantly, Tai let Summer go so he could take it. It trembled in his grasp and he had enough clarity to feel annoyed about that. He was a martial artist; since when had he have such shaky hands? He brought the scroll closer, tracing the swirling patterns in the background’s wallpaper with his eyes, listening to the others talk around him.

“Qrow how did you know what to do?” Summer asked.

“Picked it up in that one class with Professor Alma – psychosis on the field? He talked a lot about panic attacks remember?”

The words floated over him, like a whisper he only partially understood. Whatever Qrow was saying couldn’t be right though. It was just too dark and it freaked him out. That was all.

“You actually paid attention?” Disbelief dripped from Raven’s tone.

“Yeah, I listen sometimes!” He snapped back. The vibrations of his yell felt funny against his palm.

“Nope! Don’t get started right now.” Summer cut in sharply. When she addressed him, her tone was much gentler, “Tai, how are you doing?”

He didn’t look up from the light. “I’m alright, I think. Sorry.” He was tired, actually. Like he’d just run a marathon across the kingdom without stopping. But that probably wasn’t important enough to mention.

“Don’t be.” She rubbed his arm. “We can talk about it later. Raven and I are gonna start looking for another way out though. Qrow’ll stay here with you, okay?”

“Okay.” He agreed easily. He didn’t watch them go, too afraid what might happen if he did.

Qrow heaved a soft sigh, rubbing his thumb over Tai’s knuckles. “You want your other hand back?”

“No. You’re helping.” Tai replied. He definitely felt better, but still disconnected, as if part of his brain didn’t want to turn on all the way and it was having to slog through the non-working parts to feed him data. So, it took him way longer than it should have to remember how much his teammate disliked physical contact. “Oh, wait, is it bothering you?”

“It’s fine. You just do what you need to buddy.”

Though he sounded reassuring, it still bothered Tai. So maybe it he just turned his hand like so - ah, there!

“This is good.” He decided as he intertwined his fingers with Qrow’s, squeezing lightly.

“Yeah.” He agreed, squeezing back. “This is good.”

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt was 43. “I feel like I can’t breathe.” 
> 
> The first thing I thought of was hyperventilating, and since I'd already established this version of Tai with panic attacks, I figured why not write out his first experience?


End file.
